Character building in retirement

 “Our retirement has not turned out as we had planned either. It's been character-forming” was a comment by Jean in a post about the Ukrainian invasion on a posting at “A Retirement Blog by Caree Risover. This blog is always an interesting read and one that I sometimes go to if I am stuck for ideas.

Jean’s statement that retirement has not turned out as planned is one that I am sure many of us would say is accurate ourselves. I have talked about my retirement and the fact that it took me years to accept that I was retired. I still do a lot, and my friends wonder how I find the time. Someone once told me that if you value something you will find the time to do it. Take a look at what you spend your time doing, and that is what you value.

One of my closest friends said to me, “You and I did a lot of volunteer work when we were working and at times, we were working 60 to 80 plus hours a week, on top of our jobs.” I think he was exaggerating the hours, but he had a point. He went on to say, “Since I retired, I am devoting myself to my wife and my family to make up for the lost time when I was younger.” He said, “I don’t think I can ever make it up, but I am going to work hard at it.”

He values his wife, his daughter, and his grandchildren and they live close to him and his wife, so he can take the time to spend with them. If my daughter and my grandson were close, I would do the same, but my daughter and her family are on the other side of the world and when they are here, I do spend all the time I can with them. Remember we spend time on or with those that we care about. Take the time to spend your time wisely so that your retirement can be what you want it to be, not a character-building exercise.